Starbucks to Fairtrade Source all Espresso in Europe

In addition to this announcement, Fairtrade and Starbucks are sharing their knowledge and best practices in responsible sourcing to further improve the livelihoods of coffee farmers and to ensure the availability of the highest quality coffee.

11 Sep 2009 --- Starbucks and the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) have announced that by March 2010, every cappuccino, latte, mocha and other espresso-based beverage served in Starbucks in Europe will be Starbucks Shared Planet and Fairtrade Certified. Starbucks is already the world’s largest purchaser of Fairtrade coffee, and the switch to Fairtrade Certified espresso in Europe will help contribute to a total global annual payment to small-scale coffee farmers estimated at EUR 2,800,000.

The announcement is part of a global commitment with FLO who are responsible for the development of global Fairtrade standards. It furthers the global plan of doubling Starbucks Fairtrade purchases to 18 million kilo by the end of 2009. The announcement follows the successful roll out earlier this month of 100% Starbucks Shared Planet and Fairtrade Certified espresso in the UK & Ireland.

“Starbucks and Fairtrade share a long history of supporting small-scale coffee farmers and their communities,” said Rob Cameron of FLO International speaking at the International Fairtrade Conference in Berlin. “This landmark commitment from Starbucks to serving only Fairtrade Certified espresso across Europe by March 2010 is another step in helping consumers across Europe live Fairtrade every day.”

“I am excited about and proud of next year’s introduction of 100% Starbucks Shared Planet and Fairtrade Certified espresso in our stores across Europe,” said Buck Hendrix, president of Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Starbucks currently serves millions of customers in Europe every week. This announcement guarantees that, working together with Fairtrade and our customers, we are using our size for good every day. Starbucks has always been committed to responsibly grown and ethically traded coffee and our nearly decade long relationship with Fairtrade has strengthened that commitment.”

In addition to this announcement, Fairtrade and Starbucks are sharing their knowledge and best practices in responsible sourcing to further improve the livelihoods of coffee farmers and to ensure the availability of the highest quality coffee. Together they work towards giving a growing number of farmers access to farm loans, and to technical assistance and resources through the FLO producer support and services and the Starbucks Farmer Support Centers in Rwanda and Costa Rica. Starbucks and Fairtrade are also exploring ways of integrating the verification processes for their coffee purchasing programs in order to increase the positive impact of their programs and reduce the costs currently borne by coffee farmers.

Starbucks Shared Planet is Starbucks commitment to doing business in ways that are good to the earth and to each other. From the way the company buys its coffee, to minimizing its environmental footprint, and being involved in local communities. Starbucks ethical coffee sourcing principles for Starbucks Shared Planet coffees include specific criteria that address the environmental, social and economic transparency issues that are critical to the financial stability and long-term health of coffee farms and farmers. Launched in 2004, Starbucks ethical sourcing principles were developed in collaboration with Conservation International. The more than 200 indicators are evaluated by third-party verifiers under oversight by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). Last year alone, the company’s ethical sourcing principles for coffee impacted more than one million farmers and workers.